Flashing for mortar joints



H. H. EDWARDS FLASHING FOR MORTAR JOINTS March 22, 1966 Filed July 1, 1963 FIG ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,241,272 FLASHING FOR MORTAR JOINTS Harlan H. Edwards, 900 University St., Seattle, Wash. Filed July 1, 1963, Ser. No. 291,980 1 Claim. (CI. 52-62) This invention relates to flashings as used in the building industry. More particularly, it relates to improvements in sheet metal flashings, herein designated as through wall flashings as designed for use in the mortar joints of walls laid up of brick, concrete blocks, or the like, to retain the integrity of the mortar joint and to divert water seepage from the joint and wall.

It is one of the principal objects of this invention to provide sheet material for flashing that has its opposite side surfaces overlaid with metal mesh to insure the permanency of the wall and the integrity of the masonry joint in which the flashing sheet is embedded and to more securely anchor the sheet in the wall.

It is a further object of the invention to so form those longitudinal edges of the flashing sheet that are exposed at what may be the outer surface of the masonry wall, that the joint will be protectively covered thereby and the line of the joint emphasized. Also, to so extend and slope that longitudinal edge of the flashing that is extended from the joint at the inside surface of the masonry wall, that water drainage across and from the joint will be facilitated.

Another object of the invention resides in the formation given to the inner end portion of a modified form of flashing that it may coact with and be interlocked with an inside cove flashing assembly in leak proof joints.

A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of a flashing made from plastic material, which embodies the desirable features of the present metal flashing sheets.

Still further objects and advantages of the invention reside in the details of formation and assembly of parts used in the present flashing.

In accomplishing the above stated and other objects of the invention, I have provided the improved details of construction and manner of use of the present flashings, as seen in the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a cross-section of what may be a brick or concrete block wall, showing mortar joints horizontally therethrough and a flashing sheet of the present invention applied to one of the through joints.

FIG. 2 shows a flashing, embodied by the present invention, as applied to the joint of a masonry wall and with its inside longitudinal edge portion extended and shaped for interlocking with a special cove flashing.

FIG. 3 is a fragmental perspective view showing metal flashing strips as joined in a flat seam.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a fragmental portion of a flashing of an alternative form.

Referring more in detail to the drawings:

In FIG. 1, a cross-section of what may be a masonry wall 10, built of brick, cement block or other suitable building material, laid up in the usual mortar joints 11. In one of these joints, there is disposed a flashing of this invention which has been designated, in its entirety, by reference numeral 12.

This flashing 12 may be short, long or of any required dimensions according to requirements and it is laid in the mortar joint 11 as the mortar is spread preparatory 3,241,272 Patented Mar. 22, 1966 "ice to laying the next upper course of bricks or blocks in the wall. Preferably, the flashing of FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a sheet metal strip of the full width of the wall. In its placement in the joint, the flashing sheet is sloped downwardly from the outside surface of the wall to the inside surface, as has been illustrated.

The flashing comprises a substantially flat, thin sheet 12' of suitable metal, usually galvanized iron, or any other suitablesheet material, the opposite faces of which are overlaid by strips 14 or sheets of rather closely woven metal of screen-like character, as illustrated, which are spot welded or soldered to the sheet metal.

One of the primary features of the present flashing 12 resides in the formation of the outer longitudinal edge portion of the metal sheet 12', which is seen to be formed with an upwardly and outwardly directed edge portion 15, which at the plane of the outside surface of the wall, is turned downwardly in a rounded bend, as at 16, to continue as a downwardly directed skirt 17 that spans the full vertical width of the mortar joint; this skirt forms an outwardly facing, shallow trough that protectively overlies the edge of the mortar joint to its full width, and may establish its vertical depth. This shaping of skirt 17 also protects the mortar of the joint from absorbing moisture and facilitates the drainage of water that may run down the wall surface across the joint.

At the inside of the wall, the flashing sheet 12' extends from the joint as a downwardly and inwardly inclined drip flange 18 that directs water falling on this inner surface from the wall and mortar joint.

It is to be noted that the longitudinal edges of the metal mesh strips 14 terminate well within the formed inner and outer longitudinal edge portions of metal sheets 12 and do not expose the mesh to the outer edges of the mortar joint at the wall surfaces.

The flashing 12 as shown in FIG. 2, is like that of FIG. 1, except at its inside edge it continues, as a drain hook 19, substantially inward and across the top of the top edge flange of a cove flashing assembly 20 and interlocks therewith through the mediacy of a downtumed flange 21 formed at its lower edge with an inwardly and upwardly turned hook forming portion 22; this flashing being illustrated and described in my copending application, filed under Serial No. 263,348, on March 6, 1963.

In the use of the presently employed flashing, it is frequently desirable to join the ends of adjacent strips 12' in a flat folded seam as at 25 in FIG. 3. In this interlock in seam 25, the ends of adjacent strips 14 are terminated short of the seam and the strips 12 are formed as opposedly related hooks that are interlocked and the folds flattened to bring the seam practically into the same plane as the joined mesh strips.

When flashings, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, are used in the horizontal joints of wall laid up of cellular cement blocks, the mortar is applied only along the longitudinal edge portions of the blocks and between those cross walls that extend transversely of the longitudinal walls.

It is to be explained that the metal mesh employed may be heavier and its mesh selected to best suit requirements.

In FIG. 4, I have shown a fragmental portion of a flashing sheet 30 of molded or extruded plastic. This is characterized by the formation of dovetailed ribs 31 on the opposite faces of a central web 32. This sheet,

in its use, would be embedded in the mortar joint in the same manner as the flashing is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and serves substantially in the same way for the same results.

Flashings of these kind add to the life of the mortar joint and insure that water will not seep vertically through the wall and mortar will not loosen and free itself from the metal sheet. The flashing sheet effectively drain moisture from the wall and prevent its entering the joint.

I claim:

In a masonry wall having a generally horizontal mortar through-joint from the outside to the inside face of the wall, an imperforate metal flashing sheet extending through said joint and having an outside longitudinal skirt portion that protectively overlies the outer edge of said joint, said sheet sloping downwardly through said joint from the top of said skirt to an inside longitudinal drain portion which extends outwardly and downwardly beyond said inside face of the wall, and mesh bonded References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 782,810 2/1905 Murphy et a1 52411 1,801,530 4/1931 Overmire 52-454 1,860,240 5/1932 Friedrich 5260 1,984,251 12/1934 Cheney 5260 2,005,221 6/1935 Cohen et a1. 52413 2,056,317 10/1936 Habicht 52413 2,139,851 12/1938 Roberts 52-396 X 2,140,407 12/1938 Schilling 52-413 2,787,156 4/1957 Goodwin 52--204 2,928,274 3/1960 Berg 52741 FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner.

JACOB L. NACKENOFF, Examiner. 

